OBU’s Riley-Hickingbothom Library display features “Ouachita Authors”

Ouachita’s Riley-Hickingbothom Library features a new display for both current and former students titled “Ouachita Authors.” The display includes representative authors from each decade of the university’s existence.

Within the exhibit are the yearbook photos of the authors as well as copies of their works and campus photos from their eras.

Dr. Ray Granade, director of library services, said, “At its heart, the display reminds viewers of the institution’s mission.” The authors included in the display represent the potential an education at Ouachita provides.

“Writing a book requires having something to say about a subject, not just gathering a bunch of facts,” Granade said. “Having something to say results from broad-ranging, intensive study, bringing disparate viewpoints and information to bear on the matter at hand.”

The library has long had a bookplate collection, a virtual collection not housed together, of many Ouachita authors but there has never been a unified display assembled.

The idea for the display originated from student Ashley Henderson, a sophomore Christian and Biblical studies major from Harrison, Ark., who works in the library, and whose uncle is one of the authors included in the display.

“The people whose faces and works adorn the display shelves are no different from those who walk the school’s pathways and inhabit its classrooms today,” Granade said. “The display should prompt us to measure ourselves by them, and to ask, ‘If they succeeded in this manner, why can’t I? Why don’t I?’”

The exhibit case is located immediately to the right after entering the front doors of the library. For more information about the exhibit, contact Ray Granade at granader@obu.edu or (870) 245-5121.